On That Subject...

I think one big, important thing to remember about Obama in the context of these debt ceiling negotiations is that he does not want to be here. Whatever he ultimately ends up agreeing to will be something he does not like, and which he is only agreeing to in the context of a hostage dynamic. If there's a report that he has "offered" cuts in Medicare, or whatever, that means he has offered them as an alternative to the complete destruction of the global financial system. We might or might not approve of that maneuver, we might wish he were holding out a harder line or trying to pressure the Republicans into caving more forcefully (though I doubt that would work, since they're crazy and all), but we shouldn't frame it as "Obama wants to cut Medicare!" At most, it means that Obama thinks (reasonably) that cutting Medicare a little bit is much better than sending the country, and much of the rest of the world, into a depression. And just as people are warning Obama not to trust Republicans to stick to the terms of a Grand Bargain if they get the Presidency and the Senate next year, we should remember that Obama has no particular reason to stick to the terms of said Bargain if he keeps those two Houses and picks up a third. All of which is to say, yes, what's going on right now is damned unpleasant, and will probably result in a lot of legislation passing that is hideous policy. But the people to blame for that are the Republicans.